How to Beat Heavy in TF2: Every Class's Answer

Heavy has 300 health and a minigun that deletes anything at close range. Pocketed by a Medic, he is the single most powerful unit on a casual server, and the reason most losing teams lose.

The good news: Heavy is slow, loud, and predictable. Beating him is about range, angles, and never fighting him on his terms.

The universal rules

Before class-specific advice, four rules apply to everyone:

1. Do not fight him at his range. The minigun shreds anything within roughly ten meters. Every winning approach starts outside that.

2. He cannot chase you. Heavy moves at about three-quarters speed, and slower while firing. If you take damage, back off. He cannot follow.

3. His minigun takes a second to spin up. Peek, fire one shot, and hide before the spin-up completes. This is how you beat a Heavy without taking damage.

4. The Medic is the priority. A Heavy without a Medic dies to any two players. Kill or scare the Medic first, and the Heavy becomes a slow target.

Class by class

Scout: Your worst matchup, but winnable. Circle-strafe tightly so he has to track you, land both Scattergun shots, and double jump behind him between shots. If you miss the first shot, disengage — a second attempt with a spun-up Heavy is a death sentence.

Soldier: You out-range him. Fire rockets at his feet from mid-range, and strafe between shots so he cannot track you. Do not let him close — at point-blank, the minigun out-damages your rocket launcher. If he has a Medic, focus the Medic first.

Pyro: Ambush him. Pyro’s close-range damage beats Heavy’s spin-up time, but only if you arrive from an unexpected angle. Never approach a spun-up Heavy head-on.

Demoman: Sticky traps win this fight. Place stickies where he walks and detonate when he commits. Grenades also work from behind cover. Do not trade in the open — his minigun out-damages your launchers.

Engineer: Let your Sentry do the work. A level 3 Sentry out-damages a Heavy, and he has to destroy it before he can reach you. Stay behind cover and repair.

Medic: You cannot win this fight. Your job is to keep your own Heavy alive, and the better pocket wins. Pocket timing — popping ÜberCharge before he can focus your Heavy — is the whole matchup.

Sniper: A fully charged headshot kills even an overhealed Heavy. Take the shot when he is committed to a fight and cannot dodge. If you miss, reposition — he cannot chase you, but he will remember where you are.

Spy: Heavy is one of your easiest targets. He turns slowly and his attention is forward. Decloak behind him while he is firing at your team and backstab.

Beating the Heavy-Medic pair

A pocketed Heavy is a different problem. Here is what works:

Focus the Medic. Two players focusing a Medic kill him in about a second, and then the Heavy is alone. This is the standard competitive answer and it works in Casual too.

Bait the ÜberCharge. Medics pop Über when they panic. If you can make him deploy early — by dealing chip damage without committing — the rest of the push is much weaker.

Split his attention. A Heavy can only shoot one direction. Attack from two angles and he has to choose.

Wait for the push to end. An UberCharge lasts eight seconds. The worst play is feeding into it. Fall back, let it burn out, and re-engage.

What not to do

• Do not duel him in a hallway. Hallways remove your range advantage and give him free tracking.
• Do not jump at him as Scout. The double jump makes you predictable, and Heavies lead airborne targets easily.
• Do not waste rockets on his body. Splash at his feet does the same damage from farther away.
• Do not fight him where he wants to be. Heavy players pick positions with cover and a Medic nearby. Make him come to you, on your terms.

The one-sentence version

Stay outside the minigun’s range, kill the Medic first, and punish every reposition with a shot. Heavy is a wall — walls do not move, and walls do not chase.